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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071201Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
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RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1469
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000027 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, DRL 
AID/W FOR EE/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM EAID SOCI KDEM TX
SUBJECT:  TURKMENISTAN:  NGO FORUM "EARLY HOLIDAY PRESENT" FOR CIVIL 
SOCIETY 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (U) SUMMARY: On December 24, USAID implementing partner 
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) organized a 
roundtable on NGOs' Participation in the National Reforms that 
attracted over 50 representatives from government and civic 
organizations.  The event was one of the first opportunities in 
recent memory for independent NGOs, initiative groups, and 
government representatives to meet together in public.  Participants 
openly bemoaned the lack of a vibrant small and medium enterprise 
business sector and agreed on the importance of joining public and 
government efforts to speed the democratization process and increase 
civic activism.  Government participants acknowledged during a 
coffee break that they were impressed by one participant's speech, 
because it addressed a recognized problem in a frank manner.  An 
Institute for Democracy and Human Rights representative suggested 
that one potential role for NGOs was to increase their civic 
education efforts in rural areas.  The event significantly 
contributed to building new avenues for dialogue between NGOs and 
government.  Both NGO and government representatives expressed a 
desire to hold similar forums on a quarterly basis, and the 
Institute offered to convene the next event.   END SUMMARY. 
 
GOVERNMENT SIGNALS DESIRE FOR JOINT EVENTS 
 
¶3.  (U) USAID's implementing partner ICNL organized a roundtable on 
December 24 for local civic actors and government officials to 
discuss ways in which NGOs might contribute to ongoing government 
reform plans.  Over 50 representatives from both registered and 
unregistered civic organizations and government entities, including 
the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, and the Ministries of 
Foreign Affairs, Economy and Finance, and Justice participated in 
the event. 
 
¶4.  (U) The event had been rescheduled from the original late 
November date after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' America's Desk 
Chief summoned USAID Country Representative to the MFA on November 
26 to discuss the event.  In the meeting, the MFA representative 
suggested that for an event of this nature, government 
representatives should be invited, and if they were not, perhaps it 
meant that ICNL had the intention to work against the government. 
(COMMENT: Government officials were both desired and welcomed by 
USAID/ICNL at this event.  Post believes that capacity constraints 
at MFA combined with the usual one-week advance notice protocol for 
USAID events prevented the MFA from arranging government 
participation on the original date.  END COMMENT.)  Although the 
country representative stressed the event could proceed as proposed, 
USAID offered to postpone the event in order to secure MFA's support 
in inviting government participants. 
 
FRANK DISCUSSION OF PRESSING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES 
 
¶5.  (U) The chairman of the Union of Entrepreneurs opened the Forum 
by stating that small and medium enterprises' share of GDP was a 
mere 0.4 % in 2008 compared to 4.0% in 1998, which he called "a real 
shame."  He severely criticized existing bureaucratic barriers to 
SME development, such as registration procedures and the role of the 
commodity exchange.  He also highlighted the lack of existing 
monitoring mechanisms for commercial law and the lack of a national 
body for entrepreneurs' support.  The speech's language was so 
strong that organizers were concerned that it might destroy the 
atmosphere of trust that they were trying to foster through the 
forum.  Instead, even the government participants acknowledged 
during the coffee break that they were impressed by his speech since 
it addressed a recognized problem in a direct manner. 
 
¶6.  (U) Next, the director of "Hemayat," a registered local 
organization, made a presentation on its business education 
activities, which includes training for disabled youth. (COMMENT: 
Hemayat, like many other NGO-like organizations in Turkmenistan, 
provides services normally associated with NGOs, but is actually 
registered as an "economic society" due to the difficult 
registration procedures for NGOs and the economic benefits 
unavailable to NGOs, such as an ability to charge for services.  END 
 
ASHGABAT 00000027  002 OF 002 
 
 
COMMENT.)  She emphasized NGOs' positive rope of providing social 
services, and made a favorable impression on participants by 
discussing a disabled young man, who won numerous Special Olympics 
medals and later became a business trainer.  Claiming that his 
integration into society was a direct contribution of the NGO 
sector, she concluded her speech by stating, "We've just heard from 
the Entrepreneurs' Union head that Turkmenistan will not have a 
future without entrepreneurship development.  I want to add that 
Turkmenistan will not have a future without building civic 
society." 
 
¶7.  (U) Presentations by other participants continued to make the 
case for the positive role of NGOs in society. Various questions to 
Ministry of Justice representatives addressed the importance of 
streamlining the registration process.  Throughout the forum, 
government representatives took detailed notes of the discussions. 
 
 
GROWING ACCEPTANCE FOR THE ROLE OF NGOS IN CIVIL SOCIETY 
 
¶8.  (U) During its formal statement, a representative from the 
Institute of Democracy and Human Rights expressed sincere gratitude 
to the participants and organizers, and said that the forum's 
discussion would contribute to developing a national concept for 
civil society development in Turkmenistan.  She spoke of the need to 
consolidate public and government efforts in the ongoing process of 
democratization and to increase civic activism.  In her concluding 
speech, the same representative emotionally stressed that the 
population's low level of education and civic awareness was a real 
challenge to the democratization and reform process.  One possible 
contribution of NGOs would be to undertake civic education 
activities, especially in rural areas.  She assured participants 
that democratization and support for civic activism is a reality of 
the day.  "That's why one of the Institute's priorities in 2008 will 
be to strengthen our cooperation with USAID and ICNL." 
 
¶9.  (U) COMMENT: For the first time in recent memory, leading 
independent NGOs and initiative groups had the opportunity to 
demonstrate to government representatives their capacity to provide 
professional services and to participate in the ongoing process of 
reforms.  Especially noteworthy was that although the participating 
NGOs welcomed the organizational role played by USAID and ICNL, they 
wanted to play the lead role themselves during the forum, in order 
to demonstrate the grass-roots nature of the event.  As a result, 
USAID's low-key role and the absence of other major donor 
organizations achieved the intended effect of increasing the NGOs' 
prestige in the eyes of the government participants.  Both sides 
expressed a desire to hold similar forums on a quarterly basis, and 
the Institute offered to convene the next event.  If eventually 
institutionalized, this event could be remembered as a catalytic 
step in the development of Turkmenistan's civil society.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND